KENNEDY
SPACE CENTER, Fla. (File footage) -- NASA ships Liberty
Star and Freedom Star depart Hangar AF at Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station for the Atlantic Ocean the day before launch.
After a Shuttle is launched, the SRBs are jettisoned at two
minutes, seven seconds into the flight. At six minutes and 44
seconds after liftoff, the spent SRBs, weighing about 165,000
lb., have slowed their descent speed to about 62 mph and splashdown
takes place in a predetermined area. They are retrieved from
the Atlantic Ocean and returned for refurbishment and eventual
reuse on future Shuttle flights. Once at Hangar AF, the SRBs
are unloaded onto a hoisting slip and mobile gantry cranes lift
them onto tracked dollies where they are safed and undergo their
first washing.